NIAMEY, NIGER – Niger’s junta said on Monday it had repealed an anti-migration law that helped reduce the flow of West Africans to Europe but was reviled by desert dwellers whose economies have long depended on the traffic.
The law, which made it illegal to transport migrants through Niger, was passed in May 2015 as the number of people travelling across the Mediterranean from Africa reached record highs, sparking a political and humanitarian crisis in Europe and putting pressure on governments to stem the flow.
Niger’s junta, which took power in a coup in July, repealed the law on Saturday and announced it on state television on Monday evening.
The junta is reassessing its relations with former Western allies, who condemned the coup, and seeking to shore up support at home, including in the northern desert communities that have benefited most from the migration.
The number of migrants passing through Niger, a major transit country on the southern edge of the Sahara, fell sharply over the years as a result of the law, but the change sucked the lifeblood out of towns and villages that had fed and sheltered migrants and sold car parts and fuel to traffickers.
In return, the European Union launched the nearly $5.5 billion Trust Fund for Africa in 2015, aimed at eradicating the root causes of migration, but many felt it was not enough. Unemployment has soared in places like the ancient city of Agadez, a popular gateway to the Sahara.
It remains to be seen how European leaders will react to the news and what impact it will have on migration to Europe.
But some people have welcomed it. Andre Chani used to earn thousands of dollars a month driving migrants across the desert, before police confiscated his trucks in 2016. He plans to restart his business as soon as he has the money.
“I’m going to start again,” he said by text message from Agadez on Monday. “I’m very happy.”